Since this forum is read by pros and amateurs of all levels I really need your help with this. I am in the middle of research on a product development task and I really could use your thoughts on the Marinade injector thread. Even if you have never used one if you can take a moment and say why you would or wouldn't use one or any thoughts you have on the item be it good or bad it doesn't matter. I just need opinions.

I've avoided such meats because the "marinade' contains unpalatable levels of salt. I've not made a large piece of meat recently, but if I did, I'd probably search for a recipe that's long on flavor and short on salt.

not sure i am of much help as i do not use injector marinades for meats. don't know why really--guess i don't really see the point unless you are smoking meats, but i don't do that either. in my restaurant, our proteins are either grilled or sauteed. even when i do prime ribs or briskets, i either do a rub, a marinade and a slow roast. for roast chicken or turkey, it's either marinated for days or something put under the skin(like green chilies and garlic, butter). don't think it's from being lazy that i don't use injectors--think for me its simply avoiding another messy step that doesn't significantly improve the end result. then again, as i said before, i know nothing!

now chef, if you wanna talk about injecting strawberries with tuaca, grapes with frangelico or watermelon with vodka, i'm there!!!

joey

food is like love...it should be entered into with abandon or not at all Harriet Van Horne

DEPENDS If I were a manufacturer I would pump marinade in so far as to add weight to the product so to recoup some of the cost of the marinade and time and labor. Home however , I prefer a rub or a marinade from outside, so I can control the outcome better.

Chef EdBOver 50 years in food service business 35 as Ex Chef. Specializing in Volume upscale Catering both on and off premise .(former Exec. Chef in the largest on premise caterer in US with 17 Million Dollars per year annual volume). Well versed in all facets of Continental Cuisine...

Chef EdBOver 50 years in food service business 35 as Ex Chef. Specializing in Volume upscale Catering both on and off premise .(former Exec. Chef in the largest on premise caterer in US with 17 Million Dollars per year annual volume). Well versed in all facets of Continental Cuisine...

I don't think I've ever really trusted the science of injecting. It seems to me that whatever you inject just fills the spaces between the meat fibers and is likely to be squeezed out when the fibers contract during cooking. Brining on the other hand acts on a molecular level and retains the flavored liquid. I have no evidence to support this theory; it's just my opinion.

I can see the idea of it in roasts and other proteins that are to thick to allow a regular marinade to penetrate. If you are a fan of making sauces for your meat you really don't need much flavor "in" the meat itself... I guess for me it isn't a step I could see myself ever really using. Like what was stated before... just another mess to clean up.

All this Bar B Q has given me an idea. A Diet, sugar free Bar B Q sauce. More for diebetics then weight control. I have started to work on it.

Chef EdBOver 50 years in food service business 35 as Ex Chef. Specializing in Volume upscale Catering both on and off premise .(former Exec. Chef in the largest on premise caterer in US with 17 Million Dollars per year annual volume). Well versed in all facets of Continental Cuisine...

Chef EdBOver 50 years in food service business 35 as Ex Chef. Specializing in Volume upscale Catering both on and off premise .(former Exec. Chef in the largest on premise caterer in US with 17 Million Dollars per year annual volume). Well versed in all facets of Continental Cuisine...

Clearly a poor choice of words... From my very limited experience as a cook, the only way your average cook can get flavoring deep into a protein is by injecting it or brining it. If you have a roast for instance, I would not normally brine it personally. I might be missing an amazing boat but it would not have been my first choice. Some folks do not have sauces and gravies on their meals. If you are to make a rub or create a crust on that roast it is a surface flavor to my limited knowledge. And if you do not BBQ it... well not a ton of that flavoring rub gets deep in the meat.

I am here to learn, and post is asking for what we know... this is all I know on the subject. You do not know that you are wrong unless you are shown, and I do not have much experience with larger pieces of meat. I have only just started cooking as a career. I do not get to make a very large assortment of foods in my job and my wife has a very limited diet. She can not eat much in the form of meat.